Tag: Ceramics

Jaime Hayon: Technicolor

White ceramic bowl with green embroidery — Hella Jongerius, (Dutch, b. 1963), produced by Royal Tichelaar Makkum (Makkum, Netherlands, founded 1572), *Bowl*, from the collection *Repeat*, 2002. Porcelain and cotton. Milwaukee Art Museum. Purchase, with funds from the Demmer Charitable Trust, M2015.12.

On view now through March 25th in the Bradley Family Gallery, Jaime Hayon: Technicolor brightens up wintertime in Milwaukee with a colorful splash of fun and fantasy. The energetic exhibition features work from two decades of the Spanish artist-designer’s career, including textiles, ceramics, glass, drawings, and playground equipment. These works represent a wide range of approaches to making, thinking, and viewing, while also remaining unified by a refreshing sense of playful whimsy.

Jaime Hayon trained in his native Madrid and in Paris before directing the design department at Fabrica, the Benetton-funded design and communication academy in Italy, for nearly a decade. In 2003, he left Fabrica to focus on his own studio practice. Hayon Studio now has offices in Italy, Spain, and Japan and is acclaimed worldwide.

Tags Ceramics, Design, Exhibitions, glass, Hella Jongerius, Jaime Hayon, Jonathan Muecke, Mathias Bengtsson, Special Exhibitions, textiles

Art Collection Curatorial European

German Tankards and Steins: Part 2–Stoneware Vessels

Post author By Catherine Sawinski
Post date April 29, 2014
7 Comments on German Tankards and Steins: Part 2–Stoneware Vessels

Probably Raeren, Rhineland, Germany. Jug, ca. 1583. Salt-glazed stoneware with later silver mount. Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of Richard and Erna Flagg, M1991.86. Photo credit John Nienhuis

Many people probably thing that international trade and technical innovations is something new: it’s important now, in the digital age; it was important in the 20th century, and perhaps influential as far back as the industrial revolution of the 19th century. But those that study the history of decorative arts know that international trade and technical innovations go back much further!

Tags Ceramics, Decorative Arts, stoneware, Stoneware vessels, vessels

Art Curatorial

From the Chipstone Collection—Fecundity Dish

Post author By Claudia Mooney
Post date November 6, 2012
1 Comment on From the Chipstone Collection—Fecundity Dish

Dish, England, 1681. (Chipstone Foundation; Photo Gavin Ashworth)

On the Museum’s Lower Level in the Hidden Dimensions gallery, there is a section on Myth, showcasing objects, such as card tables, that portray mythical figures. There are also several dishes mounted on the wall. A charger featuring the erotic seductress Venus is the subject of this blog post.

The dish in question dates to 1681 and is made of tin-glazed earthenware (also called Delftware). It features a reclining female nude with a child standing on her lap and four more children, or putti, playing behind her. The dish’s border depicts arrangements of fruit, cherries, flowers, masks in relief, and the inscription S/ WM/ 1681. Chargers with this scene are called fecundity dishes and were made in London between 1633 and 1697.

Tags Ceramics, Chipstone Foundation, Michelle Erickson

Art Behind the Scenes Curatorial

From the Chipstone Collection—Of Ghosts and Speculation

Post author By Claudia Mooney
Post date July 3, 2012
1 Comment on From the Chipstone Collection—Of Ghosts and Speculation

Face Jug, 1860-80. Chipstone Foundation Collection. Photo by Gavin Ashworth.

Those of you that have been through Face Jugs: Art and Ritual in 19th Century South Carolina might be wondering what the big silvery face jug is and how it fits into the exhibition.

It’s a contemporary artwork by artist Brian Gillis, titled Of Ghosts and Speculation. Gillis is based out of Eugene, Oregon, and describes himself as a “multidisciplinary artist whose practice examines relevant socio-cultural issues that may have fallen on deaf ears, been buried over time, or simply obscured by something else.” His work often deals with interpretations of history as well as how this information is archived.

I began discussing the early Edgefield face jugs with Brian last summer, and he was instantly fascinated by the fact that the face jug story has been lost over time. It didn’t seem like their origin and purpose had been passed down from generation to generation. We knew certain facts, such as that they were made in the Edgefield District of South Carolina, and that they were made by slaves, and, later, free African Americans in the second half of the 19th century.

For the most part, though, the face jugs had become an enigma.

Tags Brian Gillis, Ceramics, Chipstone Foundation, Edgefield District, Face jugs, slavery, South Carolina

Art Curatorial Exhibitions

Face Jugs—Art and Ritual

Face Jug, 1860-1880 Chipstone Foundation Photo by Jim Wildeman — Face Jug, 1860-1880. Chipstone Foundation. Photo by Jim Wildeman.

Last month I wrote about the Chipstone Foundation’s new acquisition, an early Edgefield face jug with writing on the back. Since then, our curatorial team has uncovered the meaning behind the elusive inscription. Before revealing this discovery, I’ll catch you up on new research for Face Jugs: Art and Ritual in 19th-Century South Carolina, on view until August 5 at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

“Face jugs” is a term created by art historians, historians and archeologists to refer to turned stoneware vessels with applied faces. The eyes and the teeth are made of kaolin, a white river clay that is one of the primary components of porcelain. You will notice when you visit the exhibition that there are also face cups and face pitchers.

Many different cultures have created pottery with faces or human elements, but the Edgefield face jugs are unique.

For starters, we know very little about them.

Tags 19th Century Art, African American Art, Ceramics, Decorative Arts, Exhibitions, Face jugs, research, southern art

20th and 21st Century Design Art Behind the Scenes Collection Curatorial

From Museum Storage–Wiener Werkstätte Vase

Post author By Mel Buchanan
Post date November 4, 2011
1 Comment on From Museum Storage–Wiener Werkstätte Vase

Hilda Jesser (Austrian, 1894–1985), for Wiener Werkstätte, Vase, ca. 1921. Hand-painted earthenware, 9 1/4 x 3 3/8 in. Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of Daniel Morris and Denis Gallion, Historical Design, New York City, M2002.104. Photo by John R. Glembin.

I’ve just learned that Hilda Jesser could design anything.

Correction: I’ve just learned who Hilda Jesser was.

To back up, I should explain that I often use this blog as an excuse to explore something in the Museum’s collection that I should know more about. This colorful ceramic vase is charming, but I’ve never selected it to go on view in the galleries because I wasn’t quite certain how to explain it.

Thanks to the markings on its base and the curatorial cataloging records here at the Museum, I knew that the vase was designed by Hilda Jesser while at the Wiener Werkstätte sometime around 1921.

But it doesn’t look anything like my preconceived notion of what Wiener Werkstätte ceramic designs would look like, so how could I select it to represent that influential moment in modern design history?

It was time to find out more.

Tags Ceramics, Dagobert Peche, Decorative Arts, Design, From Museum Storage, From the Collection, Hilda Jesser, Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, Wiener Werkstatte

Art Curatorial

From the Chipstone Collection—Staffordshire Teapots

Post author By Claudia Mooney
Post date November 1, 2011
1 Comment on From the Chipstone Collection—Staffordshire Teapots

Teapot, 1760/1780 Staffordshire, England Earthenware (creamware) Photo by Gavin Ashworth — English (Staffordshire), Teapot, 1760/1780. Earthenware (creamware). Chipstone Foundation, 1963.21. Photo by Gavin Ashworth.

Chances are that you own a teapot. What does your teapot look like?

It’s probably globular in form and might have some decoration applied to it. The Museum has on view a variety of teapots, including two that I find very curious. Both teapots are found in the Loca Miraculi “Cabinet of Curiosities” installation in the Museum’s lower level. One teapot is in the shape of a pineapple, the other is in the shape of a cauliflower.

Both teapots are made from creamware, a white-ish variety of earthenware clay made famous by Josiah Wedgewood in the 18th century. At a time when the whiteness of porcelain was extremely valued by the public, finding a way to make the cheaper earthenware clay white was a big accomplishment. It thus accounts for creamware’s popularity.

Tags 18th Century Art, Ceramics, Chipstone Foundation, english art, From the Collection

Art Curatorial Exhibitions

Conversation with the Curator: Way of the Dragon

Post author By Claudia Mooney
Post date July 5, 2011
2 Comments on Conversation with the Curator: Way of the Dragon

Chipstone curator Kate Smith standing in "Way of the Dragon: The Chinoiserie Style, 1710-1830" at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Photo by Claudia Mooney.

The Chipstone Foundation recently opened its Summer of China exhibition: Way of the Dragon: The Chinoiserie Style, 1710-1830, which will be on view until November 6.

I sat down with the show’s curator, Kate Smith, to discuss the concept of “chinoiserie” as well as the exhibition process.

Claudia Mooney: I know a lot of visitors are probably wondering this, What does chinoiserie mean?

Kate Smith: The term “chinoiserie” basically means “in the Chinese style”. It refers to objects that are made outside of China in imitation of Chinese objects and images.

Tags 18th Century Art, Ceramics, Chipstone Foundation, Decorative Arts, Exhibitions, Summer of CHINA, Way of the Dragon

20th and 21st Century Design Art Art News Collection

From the Collection—Toshiko Takaezu

Post author By Mel Buchanan
Post date April 15, 2011
2 Comments on From the Collection—Toshiko Takaezu

The ceramic artist Toshiko Takaezu generously gave the Milwaukee Art Museum ten of her fine art vessels in 2006.

Today I was nonchalantly compiling information on her life in preparation for a potential display of those vessels, when I was suddenly saddened to read of her recent death on March 9, 2011. In Toshiko Takaezu’s obituary in the New York Times, she is credited with helping “to elevate ceramics from the production of functional vessels to a fine art.”

As one often does when encountered with the loss of either someone close or someone distant but admired (like an artist), I ran through my bank of fond memories.

Tags 20th century art, Ceramics, craft, Decorative Arts, Toshiko Takaezu

Art Curatorial

From the Collection–George Washington (ish)

Post author By Mel Buchanan
Post date February 21, 2011
4 Comments on From the Collection–George Washington (ish)

English (Staffordshire), Figure of Benjamin Franklin, 1780-1800. Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd A. Segel, M1984.111.

President Barack Obama has one of the world’s most famous faces. It would be hard to imagine a newspaper or a t-shirt maker or a sculptor getting away with substituting a similar grin and telling us it was our President. I suspect we’d know the difference.

But if this were the 18th century, we may be none the wiser.

Tags 18th Century Art, American Art, Benjamin Franklin, Ceramics, George Washington, presidents, prints, Staffordshire